Productivity

As we all know, having lots of cars littering your workplace can be a hazard and a barrier to productivity. Conscious of this, Audi has enlisted some robots to tidy all their spare cars out of the way until they're needed. What's more, the "Ray" robots get on with it without bothering anyone. Read More

Microsoft has unveiled an early version of Windows 10, the company's latest attempt to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile operating systems with a new platform for phones, tablets and PCs that will be available for free for its first year for those upgrading from Windows 8.1 and for those still using Windows 7 a year later. Read More

It was an unusual year for mobile tech at CES 2015, with two of the most intriguing mobile devices coming from companies we'd never heard of before. The smartphone we drooled over most was the Saygus V2 from a small American company, and as for tablets, it was the Chinese startup founded by a trio of ex-Googlers called Jide and its upcoming "Remix Ultra Tablet" that was the most intriguing large screen device. Read More

Microsoft Office for iPad has been a favorite subject of the rumor mill for almost as long as the iPad has been around. Today the rumors are no more, as Satya Nadella used his first event as the company's CEO to announce the first "real" version of Office for iPad. Read More

Keeping track of who is in a meeting, who is at their desk and who has ducked out for coffee can be the bane of the office boss looking to optimize productivity. The team behind Simple In/Out, a digital platform that automatically checks workers in and out of the office by tracking their location, aims to simplify the process of keeping up with an employee's whereabouts. Read More

It's the world's most used web browser, but how many users are using extensions to get the most out of Google Chrome? (Probably very many. That's just the sort of annoying question journalists like to ask by way of an introduction.) Here are some of my favorites, not geared towards any particular profession, which I think could prove useful to my fellow generalist web users out there in the world. There are no gimmicks; no bossy extensions telling you what or what not to do; merely usefulness, hopefully. Read More

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), which lays claim to being the largest shipbuilding company in the world, says it has developed a miniature welding robot that can be easily transported by a worker and affixed to a ship using magnets. The small, portable robot is expected to increase worker productivity two to threefold. Read More

Change your password day falls February 1 (tomorrow, in other words), and it's a day as good as any other to add some beefy heft to your online security regimen. One thing to strongly consider, if you haven't done so already, is to apply unique passwords across all your log-ins. That might sound daunting, but tools now exist that make it unnecessary to remember a password again. Unfortunately, a lot of the password management software out there isn't as painless as it might be, with cluttered interfaces full of empty text fields asking for a wealth of unnecessary information. And often, they don't come cheap. But there is another, simpler way - one that involves encrypted text files and painless data-syncing. Read More

In another notable announcement ahead of the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has revealed that its iWork productivity apps are now universal binaries meaning that, in addition to an iPad, they can now be used on iPhone (3GS and 4) and iPod touch (3rd and 4th G). The price of the individual iWork apps - Keynote, Pages and Numbers - is still the same and existing iPad iWork app users will now be able to use the apps on any other compatible iOS devices they may own thanks to a free update. Read More

Business travel in the 21st Century is a whole new ball-game. With the advent of laptops, netbooks and even smaller form factor connected devices like tablets and smartphones, the task of taking your office on the road with you is getting easier, but there's still a compromise between the gear you need to maintain full productivity and the reality of wrestling your way through airport check-in queues. So what are the options? In the first of a three part series that will look at the best of what's new for the mobile technophile, here's our pick of essential accessories tailored to the needs of the mobile business traveler. Read More